


Fair Enough Fare and Fine Enough Points

by Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains



Series: Of Tears and Ash [5]
Category: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Genre: Banter, Discussion, Gen, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25477246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains/pseuds/Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains
Summary: Orestes considered the quality of certain food, while Iphicles considers the quality of Orestes's confidence.
Series: Of Tears and Ash [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1050806
Kudos: 8





	Fair Enough Fare and Fine Enough Points

Orestes stared down into his mug, looking halfway pensive.He absentmindedly swirled the contents around, lacking any substantial inclination to actually drink said contents.The beer at this establishment was only nominally identifiable as such.He personally found it to be a bit of an affront to good taste, all things considered.All the same, he had to admit, it wasn’t the worst so-called brew he’d tasted.Some establishments did whatever they could to keep their expenditures low, regardless of the effect it had on the quality of their drink.Then again, perhaps he was just a bit of a snob when it came to alcohol.He liked a drink that he could at least imagine was capable of getting him tipsy.Something with at least some imitation of an edge, however meager it might be.This tinted water (for that’s really what he thought it might as well be), didn’t have the skills to pull off such an imitation.

With a quiet exhalation of breath, in reality a restrained sigh, so as not to alert the bartender, who was a little too close by for Orestes to get away with badmouthing the establishment’s drink to his compatriot, Orestes raised his eyes from his tankard and glanced over to said companion.Iphicles looked to be tackling the brew with a more optimistic spirit than Orestes.This, of course, meant only that he was actually drinking the stuff, rather than scrutinizing it warily as Orestes was.Whether this actually indicated that he felt any different about the quality, Orestes had no way of knowing.His eyes wandered over to the bartender, who was busy filling another patron’s glass, but was still well-within earshot, which ruled out any conversation that concerned the inn’s fair.

The inn’s fair was an entirely different affair, to be sure.The stew, now residing in Orestes’s stomach, hadn’t been half bad.It made up moderately well, all things considered, for the quality of the brew.The bread too had been a hearty enough variety, full-bodied, still warm enough that it couldn’t have been baked too long before the duo arrived for the evening.That much, Orestes counted as a definite point in the inn’s favor.He was quite partial to freshly-baked bread, there was no doubt about that.

Orestes’s gaze wandered back to his friend.Iphicles was now polishing off what remained of his meal.Orestes felt a small bit of regret that he had finished his as quickly as he had, but there was nothing to be done about that.After all, when he was struck by a strong hunger, his appetite become a zealous thing indeed.It was best to satisfy it sooner rather than later, lest it become an irritable beast in his belly, bellowing its discontent for any bystanders to witness.That most certainly wouldn’t do.Moderately-paced consumption became a luxury which Orestes couldn’t afford when his appetite was involved.This was all to say then, that food and drink were the vices which he was most helpless too, to the extent that Iphicles often had a good laugh over said weakness at his friend’s expense.Many times, out on the road, Orestes would complain about the nature of the food on which he was forced to subsist, whether it was the flavor of a rabbit, or the chewiness of a bird, or everything about the stonesque hard tack Iphicles sometimes insisted they purchase when in a larger town (apparently, flavor, texture, and anything which could identify something as edible went out the window in favor of preservation when it came to that particular staple). 

Iphicles was undoubtedly the more practical of the pair when it came to what they ate.He aimed to obtain that which would last the longest on the road, and for the rest of their diet during times of travel, live off the land, whether by foraging or hunting.Admittedly, this was a fairly logical choice.Both of them were skilled enough at each of these approaches to make them feasible, even if Orestes was less than thrilled by the prospect.

Iphicles, who had just finished stuffing the last bite of his portion of bread into his mouth, and then proceeding to wash it down with a gulp of the substance termed beer, looked over to meet his companion’s gaze.He gave the other man a firm nod.“What do ya think?”He asked quietly, leaning in almost conspiratorially.

“Of what?”Orestes replied, keeping his tone low as well.Though he wasn’t entirely sure as to what his companion was referring, he thought it best to match the other man’s attitude, in the event that it was something of importance.

“Of the fare,” Iphicles answered covertly, “And the brew too, for that matter.”

Orestes thought for a moment, seeking out the bartender with his eyes.He found that the individual in question was now at the far end of the bar, conversing with another customer.It seemed as good a time as any for him to voice his opinion.

“Well,” he began, keeping his tone low, but casual, “The fare was good enough, but I hesitate to call the brew a drink.”

Iphicles nodded, pulling back.“Well, I’d have to say I’m in complete agreement of that fact with you.Which makes me question something.”

“Oh?”Orestes asked nonchalantly, eyeing his mug and the remaining liquid in it distrustfully.“And what would that happen to be?”

“Ah, I’m glad you ask that, my friend,” Iphicles replied with a grin.“You see, I recall there being a little wager between the two of us, concerning my enjoyment of the northern lands and what they held.You remember that of which I speak, do you not?”

“Of course my companion, I recall it with little difficulty,” Orestes confirmed, a note of caution in his voice.“But do tell, what question does that now call to your mind?”

“Well, Orestes, I must say,” Iphicles revealed, grinning broadly, “We have traveled a good ways north now, and I am still yet to be impressed.This brew—“ he tapped his mug, “Only serves to prove my point.It seems to me, that you are in some danger of losing our wager.Would you care to contest that point?”

“Hmm,” Orestes mused, scratching at his chin, “I would indeed, my friend.”

“I encourage you to do so then,” Iphicles offered with amusement.

“You see, my good companion,” Orestes offered, “We have not traveled far enough north for this to truly be considered the northern lands of which I spoke when I laid out the nature of that bet.With that in mind, you cannot rightly say that I am losing the bet, as we have not yet come to the place which the wager concerns.”

“Ah, I see,” Iphicles offered, sounding simultaneously skeptical of, and amused by, his friend’s response.“Well then, when will we enter the region on which your claim was staked?”

“A good question,” Orestes remarked, “And one which I will happily answer.You see, once the peaks of Pindhos are not so distant still, and we may feast our eyes upon them near enough that we can make out the hues upon their slopes, in their natural splendor, then we shall be in the region on which my claim has been staked.Is that answer amenable to you?”

Iphicles considered this response for a moment, before nodding.“Very well then, that seems a reasonable explanation, one which pleases my mind.Still, I am eager to see if even that place shall live up to that which you have made it out to be in your discourse upon it.”

Orestes waved a hand with a chuckle.“Fear not friend, fear not.I have faith that your coins will soon be mine.Thessaly is not so far now.Once it is close at hand, so to shall your money be close to my hand.”

“Ah, your confidence dulls not, I see,” Iphicles observed humorously.“Still, take care that your hubris be not so great that it poses you to be a fool when you are proved wrong.”

Orestes shrugged, conceding Iphicles’s point.“Ah, wise words my friend.I see the truth which they bear.Perhaps it would do me well to temper my pride.Nonetheless, only the future can decide which of other will prove the fool.”

“True enough, true enough,” Iphicles agreed.With a small laugh, he continued, “Though in that case, I await the future with goodly anticipation, in hopes of seeing your downfall.”

Orestes rolled his eyes.“Ah, my friend, do not deceive yourself with such fantasies.Let us have patience in this affair, or else we may both becomes fools enough through our bluster and wit.”

Iphicles only laughed again at this.Soon enough, Orestes joined him.

**Author's Note:**

> This is another one of my HTLJ fics from 2018 (set in my "Of Tears and Ash" AU) that I never posted, but decided I might as well, considering the time I put into them. Once again, since I'm no longer really in the fandom, I'm backdating this to when I wrote it, so no one thinks I'm suddenly back into HTLJ.


End file.
